I'd say, "all possible". From local contacts and contacts in neighbouring countries (established in course of my research; see here why, as example), to careful scanning through all sorts of media, particularly so in Arab states (there is a small Lebanese newspaper that has a team in Ras Lanoof: they are reporting fantastically detailled info about local rebels).Originally Posted by Rex Brynen
When all of that is carefully cross-examined, a very good picture comes together: after all I can't afford escort by seven SAS and a helicopter ticket to Benghazi...
Anyway, bellow are two from many photos taken in az-Zawiya at the start of the uprising there. One shows a big gathering of the Local Council during the Friday prayer, on 26 February. I guess all of these people went fighting the regime in the days ever since. Another photo shows one of six T-72s brought to them by the Libyan Army Col commanding the locally-based battalion, who defected to their side.
The good Col and his deputy are meanwhile dead (both KIA during the regime's attack on Saturday) and one of these T-72s (probably the one on this photo, since it's the only one that was ever photographed on the Martyr's Square in "downtown az-Zawiya") was meanwhile shown on an Euronews or RT video, with a 120mm hole in the turret... although the edges of the hole in question were still smoking, I doubt it was there in order to improve the ventilation.
BTW, in the same fashion, one can "confirm" at least seven ex-No.1070 Squadron MiG-23BNs out of 16 reportedly "captured" by the rebels at al-Abrak AB (none was flown since 2006 at least), on 20 February...
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